BIOFUELS SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA

This report, commissioned by the European Parliament, evaluates sustainability criteria for the proposed EU Directive on renewable energy, specifically focusing on liquid biofuels. It analyzes the potential for biofuel production globally and within Europe, the impacts of land-use change on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the feasibility of using degraded lands for energy crops. The document provides technical critiques of GHG accounting methodologies and suggests harmonizing EU standards with international frameworks like the IPCC and UNFCCC to ensure environmental integrity and global equity.

• Biofuel productivity varies significantly by climate, with crops in tropical and sub-tropical regions yielding on average 5 times more energy per unit of land than those in temperate European climates.
• The report identifies Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa as the regions most likely to become major biomass and bioenergy exporters due to their large areas of suitable cropland and pasture, combined with low existing agricultural productivity.
• The proposed EU Directive's restrictions on 'degraded grasslands' may create global inequities, potentially benefiting developed nations like Brazil over less developed African countries that have less previously degraded grassland available for expansion.
• Indirect land use change (iLUC) can significantly increase the GHG emissions of biofuels, with some estimates suggesting that corn ethanol emissions could double relative to gasoline due to these effects.
• The report recommends that the EU harmonize its GHG emission calculations for land-use change with the IPCC Guidelines for National GHG Inventories to improve transparency and consistency.
• While theoretically large areas of degraded land are available for bioenergy crops, actual potential is constrained by poor infrastructure, limited human capital, weak institutions, and potential conflicts over traditional land rights.
• The report critiques the proposed EU Methodology Equation for GHG emissions, suggesting the removal of the 'eccr' term (carbon capture and replacement) as it is inconsistent with the segregation of fuel emissions from co-product emissions.
• The report suggests that a GHG reduction threshold of 50% or more would likely eliminate many first-generation biofuels produced in temperate climates from the EU market.

APA

Johnson, F. X., & Roman, M. (2008). BIOFUELS SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/biofuels_sustainability_criteria.pdf

Chicago

Johnson, Francis X., and Mikael Roman. BIOFUELS SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2008. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/biofuels_sustainability_criteria.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Johnson |first1=Francis X. |last2=Roman |first2=Mikael |title=BIOFUELS SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=June 2008 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/biofuels_sustainability_criteria.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{johnson2008biofuels, author = {Johnson, Francis X. and Roman, Mikael}, title = {{BIOFUELS SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2008}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/biofuels_sustainability_criteria.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }